After more than a dozen labor demonstrations at La Playa Carmel this summer which followed the announcement of a boycott of the hotel, community members had new answers to the question, "Is this working?" At a rally at the hotel held on September 28, Mark Weller of UNITE HERE Local 483, the hospitality union that represents workers in the Monterey Bay area, cited the recent contract approval negotiated for workers at Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley as a victory for La Playa workers also.

Communication between La Playa's management and the former workers has been spotty, though. Only three of the 113 former workers have been rehired since they lost their jobs last November when the hotel changed ownership and closed for remodeling.

"People are asking, is this working? This is a fight not just for La Playa workers to get their jobs back, but for the entire labor movement, for the entire hospitality industry in the Monterey Bay. I just want to let you know this has wide reaching effects. Maybe some of you saw that Quail Lodge earlier in the week signed a contract for the re-opening of their hotel. They didn't want this over there. So this is a victory and we will continue to fight here until we get the victory for all of the La Playa workers," Weller said.